#FFCGN

Frank

Feature Film | UK 2014 | 95' | OV

Michael Fassbender is known for his choice of extreme film roles, but FRANK was a special challenge. Almost throughout the entire film, he had to don a big papier-mâché head that completely covered up his eyes and mouth. He plays the mysterious singer and »head« of a band of eccentrics that does everything to prove that genius and madness are very close cousins. By sheer coincidence, keyboard player Jon ends up joining the group. A perfectly ordinary office worker, he spends months with the band and their leader in disguise, holed up in a cabin in the forest to record a new album. As the band does not seem to care about publicity, Jon organizes a performance at the trendy SXSW festival in Austin. Obviously, that excursion turns out to be anything but a smooth trip. The delightfully wacky tragicomedy is based on a true story: screenwriter Jon Ronson (THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS) drew on his own experiences playing keyboard for »Oh Blimey Big Band,« whose lead singer Frank Sidebottom also wore a huge papier-mâché head on stage.